I’ve just posted a short video of me on The Housemate Advisor page. The idea, of course, is to give prospective clients a sense of me.
Posts under ‘Sharing Housing Basics’
You Need Doors!
Which do you prefer? The modern condo with an open floor plan and cathedral ceilings? Or the pre-war rambling house with multiple rooms with doors, nooks and crannies. If you are sharing housing with unrelated people, you should prefer the latter.
These spaces allow individuals to have privacy even when others are home. Think about it [...]
How to Avoid a Craigslist Roommate Scam
Here is a cautionary tale about a roommate scam. http://www.yiyu.us/im-stuck-in-the-middle-of-a-roommate-scam-please-help/
The description of the situation and the advice in the comments is worth reading. Note that the person will be okay because he was alert and thought the setup was fishy. When dealing with people on Craigslist it is worth being aware. NEVER exchange money without [...]
Ten Household Items You Don’t Have to Own
Saving money in shared housing is not just saving on the cost of housing. You also save because you can share the basic housewares. Below is list of some of the more common machines used.
Vacuum Cleaner
Toaster Oven
Toaster
Iron
Blender
Food Processor
Lawnmower
Can Opener
Coffee Maker
Coffee Grinder
And those are just household small appliances. Setting up a household also requires trash cans, [...]
How Sharing Housing is Sustainable Living
A nicely written article in a Vancouver publication called “Save the Planet, Save the Earth” describing the benefits of sharing housing. What caught my eye was the information of the ecological benefits of sharing housing.
The author, Chris Cannon, cites statistics that lead to the statement that if everyone lived in shared housing the gains in [...]
Nana Upstairs, Grandpa down the Hall
The title comes from Sharon Aystk’s excellent posting on her experience of having her in-laws live with her and her thoughtful discussion of the benefits of multi-generational households. Go and read it. Also read the comments.
What’s amazing to me is the strong negativity of some of the comments. It shows me how difficult it is [...]
YouTube-Video on Sharing Housing
Sponsored by Griffith University Welfare and Student Liason Office (in Australia), a series of videos teaches about how to share housing. The series is specifically designed for university students in Australia. The first two in the series describe the pitfalls and illegal scams that trip up inexperienced young people. It does this through the stories [...]
Living Alone is Unhealthy
Living alone might actually be unhealthy. “Loneliness Harms Health” on the Association for PsychCentral.com summarizes the longer book, “Loneliness: Human Nature and the Need for Social Connection,” by Drs. Caccioppo and Patrick.
Their basic point is that loneliness has negative physical effects on the body. These effects become more pronounced as we get older. From the [...]
Assumptions of “normal”
What do you consider normal behavior in your home? Is leaving the television on in every room simply the way you are used to living? Or is the opposite the case, where there are no media on in common rooms? Is dinner time at 5:30 or at 8? Does it matter? In the morning, is [...]
Sharing Housing – When Its Time to Move
Moving is an effort. From locating a new place to live to informing the bank of the change of address, there are tons of details that cost time and energy. And also money. No wonder people don’t like to do it. No wonder housemates suffer a bad situation way too long!
It’s time to move when [...]